\Down"ward\, Downwards \Down"wards\, adv. [AS.
ad?nweard. See {Down}, adv., and {-ward}.]
1. From a higher place to a lower; in a descending course;
as, to tend, move, roll, look, or take root, downward or
downwards. ``Looking downwards.'' --Pope.
Their heads they downward bent. --Drayton.
2. From a higher to a lower condition; toward misery,
humility, disgrace, or ruin.
And downward fell into a groveling swine. --Milton.
3. From a remote time; from an ancestor or predecessor; from
one to another in a descending line.
A ring the county wears, That downward hath
descended in his house, From son to son, some four
or five descents. --Shak.

\Down"ward\, a.
1. Moving or extending from a higher to a lower place;
tending toward the earth or its center, or toward a lower
level; declivous.
With downward force That drove the sand along he
took his way. --Dryden.
2. Descending from a head, origin, or source; as, a downward
line of descent.
3. Tending to a lower condition or state; depressed;
dejected; as, downward thoughts. --Sir P. Sidney.